UPDATE: The Ordinance was passed 3 to 2. We are now challenging this with a petition to bring the Ordinance to Representative Town Meeting Vote. 

REGISTERED BRATTLEBORO VOTERS: email us at buoyantresponse@gmail.com to be in touch about signing this petition - signatures due by October 31st!

 

We, the undersigned, are Brattleboro and Windham County residents, are responding to recent proposals and Ordinances surrounding town safety, specifically the "Acceptable Community Conduct" Ordinance. We are concerned with the speed and nature of decisions being made, without input from those most vulnerable and at risk of violence. We are also concerned that decisions are moving forward in opposition to the Selectboard-commissioned Community Safety Review and 911 data analysis; and in response to pressure from businesses and a citizen minority. We propose alternate ways of addressing community issues, as a community.

We see and hear around town that things have changed, and people are nervous. Increases in break ins and petty theft; increased lethality of street drugs; increases in rental and home prices; increases in numbers of street homeless and people seeking shelter; loss of businesses; loss of public and third spaces in town: all of these are shared and connected realities. The “chaos” that dominates the conversation in downtown directly results from lost and inadequate resources; poverty and homelessness are the RESULT, not the cause, of economic downturns.

When we speak of public safety, we must commit to all of our neighbors. The youth, homeless, drug users, locals, elders, tourists, disabled folks: everyone. When people have their vital needs met, they are less likely to be publicly disruptive or commit crimes. Criminalizing homelessness, whether through civil or criminal charges, has been tried time and time again through the nation and is ineffective (see resources at bottom). We all want town to be a joyful, safe place for anyone to come together, and to work together to make that happen.

If we are indeed to consider the Brattleboro community as a family, we ask for town money to be invested in dignified and compassionate solutions to increase quality of life, and to move away from a dehumanizing “us vs. them” narrative. Town resources should be allocated to meeting human needs, not to penalizing “bad behavior.” As we read through the Ordinances, we see a shared concern about public cleanliness, access and usage of public spaces, youth safety, and a discomfort with visible suffering. We also read mentions of restorative justice processes. These are valid concerns that we hold as well, we only disagree on approach. Why treat the symptoms when you can treat the cause?

Many of us drafting and signing this petition work in helping professions, and daily witness the damage that criminalizing poverty and addiction causes. Citations, whether civil or criminal, do not reduce the suffering that leads to disorderly conduct; and in fact these legal challenges make it harder to obtain housing and work. Offering social service alternatives to citations is a good idea, but there are factually not enough local recovery options or halfway houses to support this practice. Trespass citations can’t work when there’s nowhere for people to go. And penalizing mental health struggles, from which so many people from all walks of life suffer, is a dangerous and slippery slope for our town.

We ask the Selectboard to reject the proposed Ordinances, and reconsider our shared path forward. We offer these suggestions as proven solutions and alternatives to criminalization:

– drinking water stations around town

– publicly accessible bathrooms and showers

– storage lockers

– sharps containers with regular maintenance

– heating and cooling stations

– street medics and mental health workers, rather than more police

– a community-maintained community center

– alternatives to 911 for non-criminal crises

– access to Narcan/overdose response kits

-- an Overdose Prevention Center

– free fridges/mini food pantries

– free access to health and sanitary supplies

– free access to education on health and safety

Many of us can offer insight and expertise on these initiatives, and are happy to. We all wish to live in a safe, dynamic, healthy community, where care for our neighbors takes precedence over all else. We thank you for your time and work.

Respectfully, your neighbors.

 

Resources for further reading: 

• The Wrong Approach to Homelessness​

  Housing Not Handcuffs, 2019​

  Housing Not Handcuffs Youtube Video​

  The Impact of Socioeconomic Facts on Crime Rates​

  NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Addiction​

  Why Addicts Shouldn't be Criminalized | Nora D. Volkow | Big Think - Video​

  The war on drugs isn't working. Here's a better way. | Kathryn Leafe | TEDxChristchurch
  
  Chicago Department of Public Health's Harm Reduction Vending Machines